Follow Your Heart
by hellfire15
Summary: Ikarishipping, Advanceshipping, and Pikachu x Buneary x Glaceon Love Triangle :D
1. EP01 : Long Time No See

**CHAPTER 1**

**Long Time No See**

**--**

It was a sunny morning, as three friends waited at the harbor of --town as they waited for a special friend to come.

A girl with a white beanie covering her head and had blue hair reaching to her back, she wore a sleeveless black shirt and a white shirt underneath. She had a pink mini-skirt reaching only above her knees and matching boots as well, finally she wore a red scarf around her neck.

"So, can you guys tell me more about her?"

She turned to her friend who was about an inch taller than her.

The boy wore a red-black cap with a half-pokeball design, he had black hair standing out to the sides, he wore a black shirt with a yellow V-design in the middle and white sleeves. He also wore light blue baggy jeans and black and blue sneakers.

"Well, she's a great coordinator just like you Dawn and – "

He was cut off when he heard the voice of a pokemon on his shoulders.

"Pika, Pikachu!" A Yellow mouse pokemon called the attention of the three as it pointed towards a figure coming out.

"Beautifly!" A Butterfly pokemon shouted as it came towards Ash and landed on its head.

"Hey, it's a Beautifly!, and its looks so familiar…" The taller man said while staring at the Beautifly.

He had spiky dark brown hair, eyes that seems to be closed always; he had tan skin and wore a dark-brown and red-orange vest and dark khaki pants. He looked like the big brother of the group.

"Isn't this May's Beautifly, Brock?" The trainer grabbed Beautifly from his head inspected.

"You're right, Ash " Brock patted Beautifly as it squealed happily.

"Hey! You guys! Ash! Brock!" Suddenly a loud voice that sounds so familiar came from the ocean as well as the three looked to see what was calling them.

They saw a boat, and at the deck of the boat, was a figure waving at them.

It was May all right, but now she wore a different outfit, instead of the red bandana she always wore before, it was now green, and her red shirt before now turned to a long sleeveless orange shirt that reached to her thighs, her fanny pack is now green and sneakers that now match her new outfit, however, she still kept her black and white gloves.

But the best of all, she still had that beautiful and cheerful smile on her face, much to Ash's delight of course.

As the boat stopped at the port, everyone was pretty excited as they are waiting to see May up close as they waited for all the passengers to get off.

Finally there she was, but now she was carrying shopping bags with her… Typical May, always quite a shopper is she.

May walked towards the group, but due to Ash's excitement, he ran quickly towards May and hugged her tightly as May blushed deeply but also confused.

"I miss you so much May." Ash said while still hugging her.

"Uhh… yeah Ash, I miss you too." She slowly lifted her arms to hug him back while still carrying the bags.

Ash released the hug afterwards and began rubbing his eyes.

"Ash, are you crying?"

"No, I just… have something in my eye."

She giggled at him as Pikachu jumped from his master's head to May's arms,

"Aww, I miss you too Pikachu." She said while rubbing his head with her cheeks.

May released the hug and Pikachu climbed to her head and is now lying comfortably. She then looked at Brock and Dawn and proceeded to meet up with them.

"Hey, Brock, good to see you again." She smiled at the older man who had been like an older brother to her.

She looked at the blue-haired coordinator and smiled,

"You must be Dawn, nice to meet you."

"Wow, Ash told me all about you, you're a coordinator like I am, and you competed at the Grand Festival too, "

Dawn suddenly grabbed her hands and began swinging them up and down with sparkling eyes as May stood blankly at her sudden outburst.

"I can't believe I'm meeting a great and famous coordinator like you in person!"

May only blushed in embarrassment by her remarks.

Dawn finally released the handshake and pointed her finger on her chin, looking as if she's thinking about something.

"Ash also told me that you're sweet, caring, and a very trustworthy friend!"

Ash and May looked down and blushed deeply at that statement.

"A-A-Ash … told you that?" She slowly asked her.

"Of course, and oh yeah, he also told me that you had a younger brother, what's his name again?,

Dawn scratched her head while she's having a brainstorm.

"Was it Mark? Mack? Mackie?... Muk?"

"No, it's Max!" May said while faking a laugh at her wild guesses.

"Oh, I almost forgot, he also told me that you always pick a fight with your brother, and also you were a glutton."

Ash, who was behind May, who also heard that statement, made weird poses like waving his head and his hands sideways, and moved his arm around his neck as it if were slitting his throat, as he tried to tell Dawn not to say that word. Dawn, however, didn't notice any of that.

"G-G-Glutton?" May was dumbstruck by that word, as her head looked down and she clenched her fists.

"Yeah, he always tells me that you eat like a Snorlax that hasn't eaten for days." Dawn said with a happy expression on her face, not noticing a red aura coming out from May's body.

"ASH! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A GLUTTON!"

May screamed as she looked behind to find Ash, but only saw Brock pointing at something behind her, she turned around again to see Ash already hightailing out of the port.

"ASH! COME BACK HERE!"

She dropped her shopping bags on the floor and began to chase the trainer running for his life.

--


	2. EP02 : Reunion

**Chapter 2**

**Reunion**

--

May was walking towards a stall with an angry look on her face while Brock and Dawn followed behind.

When Dawn was about to strike a conversation with May to finally break the ten minute walk of silence, Brock immediately covered her mouth and shook his head.

"Now is not the best time to do that Dawn." He whispered to her ear so May couldn't hear them talking.

"Oh…"

Ash, who was trailing behind the two, was rubbing his cheek with a red slap mark present on it as he sighed.

"Why did she have to slap me so hard…" He mumbled to Pikachu who was standing on his shoulders.

The gang went to the stall where May was heading, and she bought four extra large pancakes, and went towards a bench, then she gave two to Brock and Dawn with a smiling face.

Ash, however, was ignored, sighing, he made his way towards a vacant bench and sat on it. Brock and Dawn sat together on a bench and began munching down their pancakes while staring at the two still giving the silent treatment to each other.

May had to sit next to Ash, since there were only two benches, and each bench can only hold up to two persons only.

The next minutes was spent in silence as May had already gobbled down half of her pancake until she looked at Ash staring at the second pancake she was keeping with her with his mouth drooling.

She ignored him, but afterwards the sounds of a grumbling stomach took over as May couldn't ignore his hunger any longer.

"Here, I know you're hungry…" May slowly said while giving the pancake to Ash.

"Huh, Why? Aren't you still mad at me?" Ash stared blankly at her.

"Of course I still am!" May suddenly shouted causing Ash to back off.

"But I can't stay mad at you forever you know…" May calmed down as she tried to smile at him as he blushed lightly.

"So do you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you silly." She let out a bigger smile, causing Ash to blush more.

"Man, she's so cute when she does that…" He mumbled to himself as he grabbed the pancake off her hand.

"What was that Ash?" May, however heard his mumbling.

"Oh its nothing really…" Ash tried to defend himself as she glared at him with those devilish eyes.

"Nothing??" May slowly said as she clenched her fists again, as Ash is like having déjà vu all over again.

"Please don't hurt me!" Ash pleaded to her while he covered his face with the pancake,

"I just said that you're cute whenever you smile like that, that's all." Ash suddenly said that without thinking.

He stared at the once steaming hot May who was blushing deeply by that statement, and then she quietly continued eating her pancake.

Ash stared at her for a moment and began eating his, a few more minutes have passed and the gang ate their fill and began walking towards the town square.

"So May, how's Max doing?" Brock asked the brunette coordinator who was leading the way.

"Oh Max, he's at home, since he's turning ten this year, he wants to begin practicing taking care of pokemon with Dad."

"Really? Cool!, I know he'll become a great Pokemon trainer." Ash said causing May and Brock to nod in unison.

"So, May, how many ribbons do you have with you right now?" Dawn asked the brunette coordinator.

"Oh, I have three at the moment."

"Wow, really? Cool! Can I see them?"

"Sure." May then reached for her fanny pack and took out a case, as she opened it, three sparkling ribbons came into view as Dawn's eyes also sparkled by the beauty of these ribbons.

"I got this ribbon from Ekruteak City, this one in Azalea Town, and this one in Mahogany City." She pointed out to the three ribbons.

"Wow, just two more, and you're on your way to another Grand Festival!, piece of cake!" Dawn raised a fist to the air, cheering for May.

"It's not that easy you know, the competition is a lot harder than I thought, thankfully my pokemon were able to push through."

"Oh yeah, I haven't shown you my new and evolved team yet, have I?" She giggled as she threw six pokeballs to the air.

"Blaziken, Wartortle, Skitty, Beautifly, Venusaur, and Glaceon! Come on out!"

The pokeballs opened as her six pokemon appeared to their very eyes.

"Blaaaaaaaze!"

"Wartortle!"

"Nyaa!"

"Saur!"

"Beautifly!"

"Glaceon!"

"Wow, your Squirtle evolved!" Ash was amazed,

"And your Bulbasaur also evolved!" Ash began inspecting the large grass-type pokemon being more amazed than before.

"Wow, so this is Eevee?" Ash knelt down to look at the ice-type of the Eeveelutions as it leapt towards Ash and began licking his cheeks.

"Oh, you still remember me, do you?" Ash chuckled as he patted its head.

"Oh yeah, how about I show you my team!" Ash suggested as he threw five pokeballs to the air!

The five pokeballs opened, and five pokemon appeared in front of them.

"Turtwig!"

"Bui, bui!"

"Staravia!"

"Gligar!"

"Chimchar!"

"Oh yeah, let me show mine too!" Dawn also said as she threw four pokeballs to the air as they opened to reveal her pokemon team.

"Piplup!"

"Pachipa!"

"Buneary!"

"Ambipom!"

"And don't forget me you guys!" Brock told them as he let out his pokemon to join in.

"Sudowoodo!"

"Croagunk!"

"Happiny!"

"Wow, so these are Sinnoh pokemons… They're so cute!" May smiled as she looked at the pokemons staring at them.

Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulders to join the other pokemons as they greet themselves to May's pokemons.

Buizel, and Croagunk stared at the taller Blaziken as it also stared at them intently, they're pretty much amazed by how strong this pokemon is just by staring at it.

Sudowoodo, Piplup, and Chimchar greet themselves at the humongous Venusaur, who smiled back as the plant on its back produced three vines as it went towards them, it shook its vines, prompting them to happily shake them.

Ambipom, Pachirisu, Wartortle, and Skitty quickly became friends as they chased each other in circles while Skitty eventually ended up chasing its own tail.

Happiny became comfortable on top of Beautifly as it flew around the area while striking a conversation with Gligar and Staravia.

Last but not least, Glaceon slowly approached Pikachu and saying sweet talks to him, Pikachu blushed a little but replied with a smile and patted her shoulders, causing her to blush. Buneary, however, quickly noticed this, and began walking towards Pikachu and asked him to join with the others and began pulling him away.

Pikachu called Glaceon over as she happily followed the two, but as the two pokemon's eyes got into contact, a new rivalry is formed.


	3. EP03 : At The Pokemon Center

**Sorry for the long update, its Exam week and I really need to review. But don't worry though as I will not abandon this fic, I hope :D**

**--**

**CHAPTER 3**

**At the Pokemon Center**

**--**

Ash, May, Brock, and Dawn went their way to the nearest Pokemon Center, after sending the pokeballs of their pokemons to Nurse Joy; they all went to eat at the cafeteria, and lucky for them, they are serving an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.

Ash and May filled their trays with every meal that was available; Dawn and the cook were even shocked on how they quickly filled their tray into a mountain of food. Brock, however wasn't surprised at all, they were always like that before; eating all the leftovers in their every meal, sometimes they even fight at who gets to eat the last piece of dessert that he made.

'Ah, the good old days…' He thought to himself as he grinned at the two gluttons trying to empty the buffet table as he quickly grabbed some food before the two of them clean them up.

As he was busy trying getting some food on his tray, he caught sight of a waitress serving other customers; she is about sixteen, she had brunette hair, auburn eyes, and a very cute smile.

Brock's instincts immediately took over as he handed his tray to Dawn who was behind him who took it with a confused look on her face as Brock hurriedly ran towards the beautiful waitress.

"Oh my sweetest angel that came from the very heavens of above, " He knelt down to the waitress and grabbed her hand as he continued flirting her.

May took notice of Brock and went over to Dawn who was still watching him.

"Looks like Brock never changed when I left."

Both of them giggled, then suddenly a short blue-frog pokemon came out of nowhere as it approached Brock with one of its hands glowing purple. Nurse Joy came running behind it as she yelled:

"Hey, Croagunk, come back here!"

"Croagunk!"

The poison-type pokemon shouted as it did a Poison Jab attack to Brock's abdomen. Brock suddenly made an ugly face as the Poison Jab hit its mark as he quickly hit the floor.

"I'm terribly sorry about this mess, your Croagunk suddenly left from its pokeball and I-"

"I-i-i-It's o-o-ka-y…" Brock managed to say as he eventually fainted. Croagunk grinned at his trainer's face and went back to his pokeball.

May giggled as she saw the entire thing:

"Looks like that Croagunk took over Max's job."

Both of them giggled as they headed for an empty table and began to eat. Ash came afterwards with a bigger mountain of food than May has and started eating immediately. May and Dawn followed afterwards while Brock lost his appetite afterwards.

--

The gang to stay the night at the Pokemon center. Brock decided to do some shopping for supplies for their next trip, and Ash, May, and Dawn decided to train at an open field just behind the center.

"Wow this place is great for training!" Ash said as he looked at the grass field, trees, bushes, shrubs, and a clean stream nearby which gave it this place a beautiful scenery.

"So, May how about a battle?" Ash asked his brunette friend.

"Uh, sure why not?" She smiled at him, causing him to blush a bit.

"Buizel, I choose you!" Ash threw a pokeball to the field, it popped open as a Water-type pokemon was revealed.

"Bui, bui!" Buizel said as it did a battle stance at May.

"Glaceon! Take the stage!" May threw its pokeball to the field as her ice-type pokemon materialized from the red ray of light from its pokeball.

"Glaceon!" She shouted showing that she's ready to battle.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu, who stood beside Dawn cheered loudly at the two.

Glaceon quickly looked at Pikachu and quickly blushed, Pikachu noticed her looking at him and he looked back, causing her to turn the other way. Buizel also noticed this and made a devilish grin at Glaceon.

"Are you guys ready?" Dawn imitated Brock's job as a referee in pokemon matches. Both of them nodded in unison.

But when the match was about to start, Buizel said something to Glaceon in pokemon language, while the three didn't understand a bit of what they're saying, Glaceon quickly got angry but kept quiet. But her eyes were glaring at Buizel sharply as the weasel grinned at successfully taunting its opponent.

"Well, ladies first." Ash grinned as he said loudly enough to be heard at the other side.

"My, Ash I didn't know you were a gentleman, but you know you know you'll regret saying those words."

"Glaceon, get close to Buizel!" May issued a command as her pokemon quickly ran towards her opponent in a quick pace with a very menacing glare.

"Buizel, Sonic Boom!" Ash called out an attack as Buizel as it quickly nodded and released three waves of its Sonic Boom attack from its tail.

"Quick, Glaceon, dodge it!" May quickly told her pokemon, as Glaceon did a series of sidesteps and jumps to successfully dodge the attacks.

"Wow, you're really improving in pokemon battles, May!" Ash acknowledged her as she blushed at his remark.

"Thanks a lot Ash, that means a lot to me." May held her hands to her heart as she stared at the trainer who was only dumbstruck by that statement.

"Huh?" Ash, being dense as he is, failed to understand what she meant.

"Now, Buizel, use Water Pulse!" Buizel channeled a water ball on its paws as it grew bigger and bigger, and then launched it at the charging Glaceon.

"Now Glaceon, use Iron Tail then Shadow Ball!" Glaceon nodded as her tail glowed brightly, charging up her Iron Tail. As the Water Pulse got close, she intercepted it with Iron Tail, causing a big explosion covering up the middle of the field.

Ash and Buizel could only stare at the cloud of white smoke as they wondered where Glaceon is.

Suddenly, a Shadow Ball attack came out of nowhere as it hit its mark at the unsuspecting Buizel, pushing it back to its trainer's feet.

"Ah, Buizel, are you okay?"

Buizel grunted as he slowly regained its balance and stared at its opponent who was wearing a big grin on her face, perhaps Buizel underestimated her.

"Bui, Bui!" It shouted as it made a battle stance, signaling its still capable to battle.

"Now use Water Gun!"

Buizel released a big wave of water from its mouth, launching it at Glaceon.

"Now, use Mirror Coat!" May commanded a defensive move from the other side of the field.

Glaceon stood its ground as her body began glowing brightly as the Water Gun made contact to her.

She was slowly pushed back by the force of the Water Gun, but slowly she endured the attack completely as she sent it back to Buizel with double the power.

"Quick, Buizel dodge it!" Ash was surprised again, but managed to issue a command as Buizel leaped sideways and barely dodged its own attack by mere inches.

"Looks like I've gotten stronger than you Ash!" May teased him as she stick out her tongue, causing Ash to grit his teeth, as he's trying to find a way to hit Glaceon somehow.

"Now Glaceon, use Ice Beam!" Glaceon leaped as it created a deep blue orb from its mouth, and then releasing three crooked beams to Buizel who was still lying down.

Buizel, quickly glanced on the golden opportunity given to him as its tail began to propel and glanced at Ash, prompting him to issue its trademark attack.

"Now, use Aqua Jet!"

Buizel stood up as its body became covered with water as it launched itself to the incoming Ice Beam attack.

"W-what's he doing?" May mumbled to herself as she was confused by Ash's actions.

Buizel intercepted the Ice Beam attack with full force, causing the water around its body to freeze. Normally Buizel would stop moving and fall down to the ground, but however, it was moving towards to the surprised Glaceon who took a direct hit from the Ice Aqua Jet attack.

"Glaaaeeeee!!" It screamed in pain as it was launched backwards to its trainer's feet.

"Glaceon, are you okay?"

Glaceon slowly stood up and glared at Buizel who now took the grin off her face to his. It let out a cry, signaling it is still ready to fight.

"Use Iron Tail!" Glaceon darted towards her opponent as her tail glowed brightly.

"Use Sonic Boom!" Buizel launched a single yet bigger wave of its Sonic Boom attack.

Glaceon intercepted the powerful attack with its Iron Tail, she was successful in stopping the attack but it took a lot of energy to do so.

"Now Buizel, finish it with Water Pulse, full power!" Buizel created a Water ball on its paws, but bigger and more powerful than before as it launched it towards Glaceon.

"Glaceon, use Shadow Ball, with all your might!" Glaceon widely opened its mouth as she channeled a dark ball of energy that was of course stronger and bigger than her previous attack as she launched it to intercept with the Water Pulse attack.

The two powerful attacks collided as it created a huge explosion, the force of the impact sent the two pokemons flying back to their trainer's feet.

As the explosion subsided, the two trainers could only see their pokemons lying on the ground and trying to stand up.

The two slowly stood up and glared at each other, after a few seconds of silence, they grinned towards each other and eventually collapsed and fainted as they formed swirly eyes.

"Both Buizel and Glaceon are unable to battle, this match is a draw!" Dawn announced the outcome of the match, as the two trainers went to their pokemon and checked to see if they're alright.

"You did great back there, Buizel now why don't you take a long rest." Ash praised his pokemon as he pulled out its pokeball from his pocket as a ray of light engulfed its body as it is returned back to its pokeball.

"Glaceon, I'm so proud of you! Now, take a long rest." May cuddled her pokemon tightly as she pressed her nose against hers before she recalled back to her pokemon.

"Thanks for the great battle, May, man you've really have gotten stronger since we last met." Ash smiled as he went towards her field.

"No Ash." She said as she grabbed the boy's hand.

"I should be thanking you, for being my mentor. And it's thanks to you that I've gotten stronger. You taught me everything, all those moves you've helped me to improve my performance at contests, your cheers encouraged me when I'm in a desperate situation, and those many times when you risked your life to save me and everyone else."

She let out everything she wanted to tell the boy, who was a bit shocked by her sudden outburst, as her face slowly got closer to his.

"Thank you Ash."

Dawn, who was about to witness the start of a new relationship between her two friends, well, until someone so familiar decided to show up.

"Oh boy, not him again…" She mumbled to herself as she glared at the man walking towards the two.

"Well, well, who do we have here? Two pathetic trainers who's shameless to express their love while someone is watching them."

The two trainers instantly released their hands and backed a few distance away.

They stared at Dawn who was confused on why are they looking at her, they blushed deeply in embarrassment for they completely forgot that Dawn was still there.

The two glared at the remark of the man, and Ash could remember him too well.

He had dark, lavender hair, menacing eyes, wearing a violet and black jacket, black pants, and matching sneakers. On top of that, he had that familiar emotionless yet arrogant look on his face.

"Paul."

--

**This chapter is quite longer than my previous ones. A few Advanceshipping moments. Ikarishipping will start next chapter, so stay tuned.**

**Oh please do Read and Review, as your reviews will hasten and inspire me in writing down chapters faster.**


	4. EP04 : Not Them Again

**CHAPTER 4**

**Not Them Again**

--

Ash, May, and Dawn stared at Paul as he stood silent, his hands in his pockets while exchanging glares at the two.

"So, what brings you here, Paul?" Ash asked with an annoyed expression while clenching his fists.

"I'm on my way to the Pokemon Center until I heard sounds of a battle going on, but much to my disappointment it was only you guys." Paul said while still in his emotionless state but a bored kind of look.

"Hey, as far as I know, that was an amazing battle between these two!" Dawn protested and made his way towards Paul.

Paul stared at her for a short while before giving a 'Hmph' and looked back at a pissed Ash.

"Please, you call that amazing? I'm even hardly impressed." Paul grinned, causing Ash and Dawn to be angrier at his statement.

Heck, Ash really wants to punch him in the face just to remove that arrogant smirk.

"Hey, who are you anyway? And why are you so rude to us?" May suddenly shouted while also clenching her fists, even though she doesn't know him, she is quite sure he is another one of those arrogant and selfish jerks she met while she was back in Johto.

"Why don't you let your boyfriend fill you in the details?" He smirked again, while May blushed deeply by that word, covering her blushing cheeks with her hands.

"B-boyfriend?" May mumbled to herself, even Ash blushed when he said that.

"So how about a battle Paul?" Ash, trying to hide away the blush from his face.

"Thought you never ask, " Paul said with that smirk, "But you know the results will always be the same. Besides, my pokemon needs some exercise anyway."

"So what are the rules?"

"The rules will be a 1 on 1 battle, no time limits, and the pokemon that remains standing wins, got it?"

"Fine then, " Ash said and looked at his most trustworthy pokemon, "Pikachu, you ready to battle?"

"Pika!" His electric-type pokemon shouted as he ran to his trainer, he stared at Paul with a determined look on his face, his four paws on the ground, while his cheeks sparked wildly.

"Aww, well if it isn't your sweet, adorable Pikachu." He teased the pokemon while pulling out a pokeball from his pocket.

"Hope you're ready for some beating." He threw the pokeball to the air,

"Ursaring, stand by for battle!"

The pokeball popped as a giant bear pokemon appeared in front of him, it had brown fur, it was several feet taller than Paul, a ring on its belly, and a very angry look on its face, as it gritted its teeth and stared at the puny rodent pokemon in front of it.

"I will be the referee." Dawn announced while standing at the side of the field, staying out of the battle field while having a wide view of the battle. May joined her as they are about to watch a heated battle against the two rivals.

"So who's that guy anyway? He doesn't look too friendly to me…"

"That's Paul," Dawn said flatly, "He's been Ash's rival since he got to Sinnoh, but unlike Ash's caring nature, Paul is quite the opposite."

"Huh, how so?"

"He treats his pokemon like they're some lesser beings, he never showed affection to them, all he cares is making them stronger, and if anyone of them cannot meet his expectations, he abandons them."

"Wow, he's even worse than all of those jerks I met."

"And do you still remember the Chimchar Ash had when he showed his pokemon to you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That Chimchar used to be Paul's."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but now I feel happy for Chimchar, Ash is taking good care of him."

"Yeah, Ash always takes care of his pokemon like they're his family."

Dawn nodded as they looked back to the match that was about to start between Pikachu and Ursaring.

"Weaklings first, as usual." Paul said while standing on his side of the field, causing Ash to grit his teeth by that statement.

'_Man, is he so annoying!' _Ash thought to himself.

"Pikachu, start off with Quick Attack!" Ash commanded while pointing at Ursaring as Pikachu dashed towards his opponent in a very quick pace.

"Ursaring, use Hammer Rock on the ground." Paul said calmly, showing no kind of emotions in his face at all.

Both of Ursaring's arms glowed brightly as it smashed the ground, causing the ground to break and fly across the field while some of the flying debris are heading Pikachu's way.

"Quick, dodge and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu quickly evaded all of the flying debris while his tail glowed brightly, after getting in close range to Ursaring, Pikachu leaped towards it and was about to strike.

"Grab that Iron Tail."

Ursaring quickly intercepted the Iron Tail attack with its palms, as Pikachu tried to overpower its palms, the glow on his tail slowly faded away, as Ursaring successfully stopped Iron Tail to work.

"Now Headbutt!"

Ursaring wrapped its huge paws around Pikachu's body and delivered a powerful headbutt on its forehead, causing Pikachu to scream in pain as Ursaring sent it flying across the field.

Pikachu managed to regain its balance and landed on its feet, but the headbutt was still affecting him aa his whole body was shaking, making him dizzy.

'_Darn it, that Headbutt looked like it did a lot of damage, well we'll try this one.'_

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu charged up a powerful thunderbolt from its body as it launched the attack towards his opponent.

"Ursaring, Energy Ball."

Ursaring created a ball of glowing energy with its paws as it is getting bigger and threw it towards the incoming Thunderbolt attack.

The two attacks collided as a huge explosion as dust clouds appeared covering the entire field.

As the dust cloud subsided, there was no Pikachu in sight, and both Paul and Ursaring looked left and right, trying to find Pikachu.

"Now Pikachu, now use Thunderbolt!"

Suddenly, an attack came from above as it struck the unsuspecting Ursaring, causing it to scream in pain as electricity surged throughout its body.

Paul gritted his teeth in annoyance as he stared upwards at the descending Pikachu.

"You'll pay for that, Ursaring use Hyper Beam!"

Ursaring opened its mouth as it charged a Hyper beam attack and aimed it at Pikachu which was above it.

"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu's body became engulfed with electricity and pointed at his opponent while using the falling speed to increase the power.

The two attacks collided mid-air, as another explosion occurred.

Suddenly, Pikachu appeared out of the cloud of white smoke as it continued its descent towards Ursaring but the Hyper Beam stopped Volt Tackle from working and bruises and scratches were all over his body.

"Now use Iron Tail!"

"Chuu!!" Pikachu shouted as his tail glowed brightly while Ursaring couldn't do anything to defend itself since it had used Hyper Beam and had to recharge first.

The Iron Tail hit its mark, and right straight to the face of Ursaring like in a slapping manner as it was pushed sideways by the powerful impact of that attack.

But Ursaring quickly regained its balance as it grabbed Pikachu's body and delivered another Headbutt to its forehead, causing Pikachu's body to shake tremendously by the impact.

"Now Hammerrock!"

Ursaring charged up its arms as it glowed brightly and swinged it to Pikachu who was still disoriented by the Headbutt.

The Hammerrock hit its mark as Pikachu was slammed towards the ground as dusts and debris flew by the powerful impact.

However, electricity suddenly surged throughout Ursaring's body as it tried to endure the paralysis.

'_Dammit, Static just had to kick in,'_ Paul gritted his teeth again, _'but it's over now, that Pikachu should have fainted by now.' Paul remained calm as he went back to his emotionless state again._

As the dust cloud settled, Paul's eyes widened as he saw Pikachu still standing up, even with his body covered with bruises, cuts, and scratches, and panting heavily but he still managed to stand up.

"How is this possible?" Paul was now very annoyed, the match should have ended by now…

"Pikachu is one of my strongest pokemon, Paul! It can withstand even the most powerful attacks!" Ash said with a big grin on his face, seeing a golden opportunity to win.

"Now Quick Attack!"

Pikachu quickly dashed towards Ursaring who was still paralyzed.

"Use Hammerrock!" Paul was now getting agitated, he could lose in this situation.

Static however, was taking its toll on Ursaring as it was unable to use any attack while Pikachu hit its belly easily as Ursaring got pushed back by the impact.

But the pain, caused Ursaring to suddenly became extremely angry, as it roared, giving it some energy while it is still fighting the paralyze effect.

"Now finish this with Iron Tail!" Ash ordered a command, hoping this attack would finally end the match as Pikachu leaped backwards to charge its Iron Tail attack and leaping towards his opponent.

"HAMMERROCK!" Paul shouted, causing Ursaring to became more enraged as it only charged its right arm, but the glow was brighter than before.

Before Pikachu could hit Ursaring, it quickly intercepted him and slammed the Hammerrock attack to its torso, Clothesline style as Pikachu was sent skidding backwards greatly.

"No! Pikachu!" Ash shouted, as Pikachu was still trying to stand up after that powerful attack, but eventually his feet gave in to the extreme fatigue he had and collapsed to the ground and fainted.

May, and Dawn both gasped by the whole battle, but Dawn recovered from the shock,

"Uh, Pikachu is unable to battle, Paul and Ursaring are the winners."

Ash and May ran towards the bruised up Pikachu until –

A huge arm came out of nowhere and grabbed Pikachu before Ash or May got to him first, while another arm came and grabbed the fatigued Ursaring as well.

"Hey, what gives?"

Ash was shocked as his eyes widened as they saw a huge robot standing before them with a Red 'R' imprinted in the chest of it. As three figures were ascending from a platform on the robot's head.

"Hey, listen is that a twerp's voice I hear?"

"Its speaking to me loud and clear."

"On the winds."

"Past the stars."

"In your ears."

"Bringing chaos at a break-neck pace!"

"Dashing hopes putting fear in its place."

"A rose like any other that's just as sweet."

"When everythings worse, our work is complete."

"NOT YOU GUYS AGAIN!!"

Ash and Dawn shouted, interrupting that same motto we all always hear.

"HEY! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TWERPS TO NEVER INTERRUPT US WHILE WE'RE RECITING OUR TEAM ROCKET MOTTO!" A blue-haired man complained.

"What? Team Rocket are still following you guys?" May was also shocked by their sudden appearance.

"Hey look, its that twoippet from Hoenn." A talking feline pokemon said while pointing to May.

"For three months of without any team rocket around, I thought you guys finally gave up!" Ash said, while clenching his fists.

"Please, we've been saving money for those three months to build the perfect Pikachu-capturing machine." A red-haired woman said.

"Are you guys done already?" Paul shouted, grabbing the attention of everybody as they stared at him as he now had an annoyed look on his face.

"I want my Ursaring, now!!" He ordered the trio who was now laughing at his statement, causing him to become more annoyed.

"Now why would we want to do that? Besides, Team Rocket needs a tough poke-" Jessie, the red haired self-centered and arrogant woman that everyone knows, said until,

"Please, you guys look like circus freaks, " Paul interrupted her, "Give me back my Ursaring, or ELSE!!"

"Or else what?"

Paul gritted his teeth, he is really pissed off as he pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it to the air.

"Torterra, use Hyper Beam!"

The pokeball opened as the continent pokemon appeared before them as it charged a powerful Hyper Beam and aimed it at the center of the robot.

"Back at cya!" Meowth said while pulling out a remote out of nowhere and pressed a switch. Instantly the robot's chest turned into a big mirror as Hyper Beam was about to come in contact.

However, the mirror managed to bounce off the Hyper Beam as the attack headed straight towards Dawn, who was now terrified and shocked that she couldn't move at all as she closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms.

When she was about to get by Torterra's Hyper Beam, someone suddenly leaped towards her and pushed her away in the knick of time.

Dawn slowly opened her eyes and was suddenly shocked by who the person was that just saved her life.

"P-Paul?"

Yes, that Dark-lavender haired arrogant trainer who was now on top on her as she couldn't move at all and look in his eyes.

Even Ash and May's eyes and mouths widened as they saw the selfless act of Paul, who even hated her.

Paul and Dawn exchanged glances for a few seconds before Paul quickly stood up and looked away, while Dawn couldn't help but notice a faint blush on his face, but also on hers as she slowly got up to her feet while still thinking deeply on why did he save her.

"YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO PAY!"


	5. EP05 : Doubts

**LuciferIX : Thanks for reviewing every chapter and thanks for pointing out the Hammerrock mistake, it's been months since I last watched and heard that attack, and whenever I try to remember, Hammerock comes to my mind, not Hammer Arm, lol don't know why… but Thanks again :D**

**--**

**CHAPTER 5**

**Doubts**

--

Ash, Dawn, May, and Paul glare at the troublesome trio standing on top of a giant robot while holding Ash's Pikachu in one hand while Paul's Ursaring in the other. The four stood quiet while thinking of a strategy in bringing the robot down.

They have seen and destroyed all of Team Rocket's bizarre robots before, but since they spent three months, doing odd jobs and not bothering our heroes who have thought they finally gave after those long years. But only to realize they were saving all this time to come up with a better plan than before.

Heck, that mirror that even reflected Torterra's Hyper Beam, who knows what more that robot has in store for them.

"Well, those three months of pure labor and hardwork really did pay off." The blue-haired man known as James said while flexing his biceps.

"Torterra! Hyper Beam again!" Paul ordered the same attack that almost hit Dawn before as everyone's eyes widened at his actions.

Torterra was also shocked but followed his trainer's command aimed at the center of the robot where the mirror is.

As the Hyper Beam formed from Torterra's mouth, it shot it again against the mirror, but now the Hyper Beam intercepted the mirror longer than before, but to no avail as the Hyper Beam was successfully bounced back and is now aimed straight to Paul.

"Electabuzz! Protect!" Paul pulled a pokeball from his pocket and threw it in front of the beam as a huge pokemon appeared; it had an antenna on its head used to channel electricity rather than his arm when it was still an Elekid, its body covered with black mark as some marks were shaped like lightning bolts, and a very intimidating grin.

His Electric-type pokemon stood in front of him and raised its hand, as a green aura flowed throughout its body and forming a barrier which immediately deflected the Hyper Beam attack.

As the Hyper Beam subsided, Paul glared at the mirror and grinned at the outcome of the two Hyper Beams; a small crack appeared on the mirror.

"Uh-oh…" The red-haired woman known as Jessie stared at the small crack on the mirror.

"Now Electabuzz, Thunder!"

Electrabuzz charged electricity through its antennas and aimed it straight at the mirror which made several shards flying and the crack became larger before getting bounced back to Electabuzz.

"Thunder Punch, go!"

Electabuzz's fist became engulfed by electricity as it intercepted the incoming Thunder, and because Electricity doesn't do much against the same type, it quickly deflected right back to the mirror with much more power than before.

The mirror was unable to bounce off the incoming attack as it sustained unbearable damage and it cannot endure any more as the entire frame shattered.

Small explosions occurred inside the Robot's chest as smokes started coming out.

"Man you guys are so stupid, you spent all those time to save up money and buy some worthless junk just to be destroyed by my pokemon?" Paul's said with a menacing smile as his arrogant personality immediately took over.

"Dammit Meowth, where's that secret thing you built on that thing anyway?" Jessie complained to Meowth who they always thought to have a backup plan ready in case any kind of mishap will happen.

Ash, May, and Dawn watched the tremendous power of Paul's two pokemon that was capable in bringing down that robot down, but Ash knew that he had to help and can't let Paul do everything by himself.

He reached for his pocket and threw out a pokeball to the air as an ape pokemon appeared.

"Chimchar, use Flamethrower!"

Chimchar opened its mouth as it inhaled some air and released a powerful Flamethrower attack upon exhaling as it went straight towards the center of the robot.

"Hurry, Meowth, do something!!" James complained as the Leaf Storm attacks was coming close to them.

Meowth quickly pressed another button on the remote and immediately small globes appeared on every side of the robot as it received the Flamethrower attack directly.

The globes glowed red and then suddenly both Ursaring and Pikachu got shocked by fire and both screamed in pain as if they were the ones getting hit by the Flamethrower attack.

"Chimchar STOP!" Ash immediately called his pokemon to stop the attack as he saw his pokemon getting damaged more instead of the robot.

"Dammit Ash, will you butt out?!" Paul quickly became frustrated at Ash's mistake as he watched his Ursaring screaming in pain and he knew he had to do something.

"You gotta love technology these days." James said while wiping some sweat of his face and kept his cool.

"Yeah, if any of you twoips wanna try and use any type attak, ten yor pokemon wood receeb the same type of attak." Meowth proudly explained to them, his ego expanding again thanks to his achievement.

Paul, upon hearing that statement, suddenly smiled at the trio who was looking at him with a puzzled look on their face.

"So, if I use an electric-type attack on that junk of yours, then our pokemon would get shocked by electricity too?"

"Uhh, yeah, why?" James asked.

"Well then, Electabuzz, Thunder!"

Electabuzz quickly charged up electricity through its antenna and shot it at the robot, as the robot is taking damage, few more parts in the inside burst as more smokes were coming out, however the globes on its body glowed yellow as both Ursaring and Pikachu get shocked by the same type the robot received.

Both screamed in unison, but Pikachu immediately stopped shouting, as electricity surged throughout its body, it somehow regained energy.

Ursaring, however, still got shocked hard as electricity surged throughout its body as it is only gritting its teeth as it tried to endure any pain possible.

"Of course…" Ash mumbled to himself as he understood what Paul was trying to do all along.

"Now Ash, give Pikachu an attack!"

"Now Pikachu, use Iron Tail to break that arm!"

Pikachu's tail glowed brightly as it quickly smashed the arm holding him tightly, but the globes glowed again but it is now white, as Ursaring got shocked again.

"Now Torterra, Hyper Beam, Electabuzz, Thunder!" Paul commanded the two as they released their powerful attacks in unison.

The two attacks collided with the center of the robot, as the globes glowed green and yellow simultaneously as yellow and green colored shocks hit Ursaring.

But unfortunately for Team Rocket, their three months of hard work went down the drain as more explosions occurred inside, and now the whole robot is malfunctioning, releasing Ursaring from its grip.

The robot exploded into bits while sending Team Rocket flying to the air.

"To think we spent all of our hard-spent cash on that robot…"

"Yeah, just to get blasted off again…"

"You know, its been three months since we last got blasted off right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I kinda miss it, we get to enjoy the peaceful scenery before having a painful landing."

"Ahh, yeah, the good old days…"

"Hey, you guys wanna say it again?"

The trio nodded in unison as they all shouted,

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

--

Paul recalled Torterra and Electabuzz back to their pokeballs, he glared at them for a bit, but did not say a word as he put them back to his pocket.

Paul went to the fainted Ursaring who probably had the worst day of his life, as he pulled out its pokeball and recalled it and put it back to where his other pokeballs were.

"Chimchar, you did great out there." Ash smiled as he returned it back to its pokeball.

Paul became angry upon hearing him praise his pokemon who absolutely did nothing but worsen the situation.

"You actually praised that thing for almost messing everything up? Why did you even butt in anyway?"

"Hey!" Ash protested while clenching his fists, "Chimchar is not a thing! And don't ever call my pokemon things!"

"If it weren't for Chimchar, you wouldn't have found out what that globe actually does." May defended Ash as she stepped forward only to be glared by his very menacing eyes.

"Please, if it weren't for me, Team Rocket would have gotten away by now. I even sacrificed Ursaring just to save that pathetic Pikachu of yours!" Paul shouted before cooling himself down as he returned back to his emotionless state.

Ash, May, and Dawn could only stay quiet by his statement, yes it is true, if it weren't for his quick actions, they probably wouldn't even figure out how to destroy that mirror.

"Hmph," Paul grinned, seeing that he won the argument, turned around and walked away with his hands in his pockets like he usually does.

"Hey, Paul?"

Paul looked to see Dawn coming towards him slowly with an embarrassed look on her face.

"W-why did you save me back there?"

Paul's eyes could only widened at her question, but decided not to answer it as he went his way again.

Dawn felt like a small part of her just fell off as she watched Paul leave them, why did he save her actually? And why didn't he even tell her why did he risk his life for?

Dawn's mind became engulfed with only thoughts about him as she recalled the memories when she met him; the arrogant trainer who cares less for any kind of affection.

She even remembered how rude he was when they're at the Oreburgh Gym for Ash's first gym battle where Paul didn't know who she was or even care what her name was.

All the memories she had about him was literally worse, but today's memories had made doubts on every memory she had before.


	6. EP06 : DayOff

**CHAPTER 6**

**Day – Off**

--

Ash, May, and Dawn ran back to the entrance of the Pokemon Center while May is still carried the resting but injured Pikachu in her arms. As they reached the entrance, they were all surprised to see Paul talking to Nurse Joy at the counter.

It is indeed surprising for everyone, for they all knew that Paul never let his pokemons rest at a pokemon center.

The gang went towards the counter to meet up with him and Nurse Joy to have Pikachu and their pokemon treated.

"Well, your Ursaring needs a very long rest in here for a whole day, then it will be good as new." Nurse Joy said while typing something on a keyboard while starring at a monitor.

"Thank you very much." Paul said flatly as he bowed lightly to Nurse Joy who smiled and did the same.

As he turned around, he saw three pairs of eyes staring at him. He stared back at the two pairs of eyes looking at him in a very pissed-off kind of way, and then he stared at the third pair of eyes, but it wasn't the same with the two, they're weren't angry or annoyed, in fact they looked concerned, worried.

Paul was staring at Dawn's sparkling blue eyes, her bright face, and her fragrant long blue hair.

'_She is kinda beautiful'_, Paul suddenly thought to himself which made his cheeks blush faintly.

"Uhh, Paul? You okay?" The girl who he was staring for a few seconds asked him with the same expression on her face.

Paul suddenly snapped himself from daydreaming and quickly shook his head repeatedly, and rubbed his eyes.

"Y-yeah…" He slowly said as he went towards the exit of the center.

'_Why did I suddenly space out like that? That isn't like me at all.'_ He thought while still rubbing his eyes.

The three looked at him with a confused look on their faces.

"Will someone tell me why is he acting weird all of a sudden?" Ash asked the two while scratching his head.

"Beats me…" Dawn said with a low voice while still staring at him.

"Come on guys, let's have Pikachu treated." May said with a cheerful smile on her face, which made the two also smiled and nodded their heads in unison.

"Nurse Joy, can you treat Pikachu?, he's really in a bad shape."

"Of course I will, that's my job silly." Nurse Joy gave a cheerful smile as she reached and held Pikachu in her arms, she looked at Pikachu intently then pressed a button on the keyboard.

Few seconds later, a big, round, pink pokemon ran towards the counter. It was wearing a nurse's cap with a big red cross design, three big strands of hair sticking out to its left and right side, and a big pouch in front containing a big egg.

"Chansey, Chansey!"

The normal pokemon called out as it reached Nurse Joy.

"Here, take this Pikachu to P-409." Nurse Joy said as she left the counter, knelt down to Chansey and gave Pikachu to its arms along with a room key with P-409 enscribbled to it.

Chansey nodded quickly and began darting its way to the specified room given to her.

"So, will my Pikachu be okay?" Ash asked her with a concerned look on his face.

"Of course it will, it sustained many injuries but neither of them are not serious, so all your Pikachu needs to have his wounds treated and a whole day's rest." She cheerfully said as she went back to the counter.

The gang sighed in relief as they heard the good news coming from her.

"Oh yeah, can you check up on my Buizel as well?" Ash suddenly remembered that his water-type pokemon needs to rest too as he reached for its pokeball and handed it to Nurse Joy.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, can you also check my Glaceon as well?" May also remembered, as she reached for her fanny pack and grabbed her ice-type pokemon's pokeball and handed it to Nurse Joy.

"Sure thing." Nurse Joy said with a smile as she grabbed their pokeballs and placed it on a tray and pressed another button on her keyboard.

Few moments later, another Chansey came and grabbed the tray containing their pokeballs and left.

"Isn't that the same Chansey before?" Dawn asked the nurse, confused by the exact resemblance of the two Chanseys they all saw.

"No, this Chansey takes care of bringing numerous pokeballs to the ward, " Nurse Joy explained as she raised her hand to the left, pointing to the room where that Chansey headed as they saw beds with resting pokemons on top of them.

"And the Chansey who brought your Pikachu takes care in treating injured pokemons who needs immediate care right away."

"Ahhh." The three nodded in unison as they understood the explanation clearly.

"As you all can see, this center has six floors in total, and we receive all kinds of trainers having their pokemons treated, that's why we have so many Chanseys here assisting the other Nurse Joys in their work, and with the help of technology these days, we can easily get the jobs done."

"Wow, thanks for the info."

"No problem, and since you kids aren't going to leave yet, why don't you go and take a break at our cafeteria?" Nurse Joy suggested, as both Ash and May's mouth widened.

"Just follow the hallway on my right and you'll immediately see it."

"Thanks Nurse Joy." The three thanked her in unison, but immediately both Ash and May ran towards the hallway to the cafeteria, leaving Dawn behind.

"Well, some things never change." She sighed as she walked towards the cafeteria.

--

"Ah, that hit the spot!" Ash said while licking his mouth and rubbing his stomach, satisfied by the meal he ate.

"Yeah, but nothing beats Brock's cooking!" Dawn happily said.

"Yeah, it's been a long while since I ate some of Brock's cooking." May said while remembering how every meal that Brock made tasted like and drooling in the process.

"Speaking of which, where is he anyway?"

"Oh my sweet Nurse Joy, " A loud familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere.

"That's Brock all right, c'mon let's go." Dawn said as she ran ahead of the two, prompting them to follow.

The three ran to see where Brock's voice came from, and not surprisingly, he's at the counter holding Nurse Joy's hand while reciting some of his love poems.

"My body is aching from the pains I feel from not being able to see you, and only your gentle and caring hands can cure my aching bod-"

Brock suddenly stopped as Croagunk did a poison jab to his abdomen which made him collapse and be dragged by his poison-type pokemon away from here.

Nurse Joy faked a laugh as she looked to see Ash, May, and Dawn looking at her with sweatdrops on their faces.

"Oh, it's you kids again, " Nurse Joy quickly recovered from that weird incident as she grabbed the tray beside her containing two pokeballs, "Here are your pokeballs, healthy and ready to go."

"Wow that was fast, thanks Nurse Joy, you're always the best." Ash complimented her as he grabbed Buizel's pokeball while May grabbed Glaceon's pokeball.

"Aww, shucks, it's no big deal at all." Nurse Joy calmly said as she made a big smile, since she always get praised by everyone for her hard work.

"Hey, why don't we check up on Pikachu?" Ash suggested.

"I think that's a great idea, Pikachu could use some company while he's recovering." May also said, as she liked the idea.

"Your Pikachu is staying at room 409." Nurse Joy added.

"Thanks again Nurse Joy."

"No problem, kids." Nurse Joy waved at them as she went back to the counter.

As the three headed for the stairs, May thought of an interesting idea.

"Hey guys, why don't we race?"

"Race?" Dawn asked.

"C'mon, I haven't had any fun lately without you guys around."

"Sure, why not? It helps me build up an appetite later." Ash joked.

The three positioned themselves in front of the stairs.

"Okay guys, we'll all start in 3, 2, 1…GO!!" May shouted as she and Ash started to sprint towards the fourth floor.

As May was about to move, something grabbed her arm, causing her to almost lose her balance. She looked around to see Dawn.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" May said while trying to let go of her arm from her tight grips.

"May, I have a better idea, " Dawn simply said with a smile, "Follow me quick!"

May looked dumbfounded but proceeded to follow Dawn as the two quickly made their way to an elevator.

"Hey, isn't this cheating?" May asked as she stared at Dawn who pressed a button beside the elevator, causing the door to open.

"C'mon, Ash wouldn't even notice, besides, we just ate, and I don't want to run." Dawn said with a sinister smile as she led May inside the elevator.

"Just play it cool, okay?" Dawn asked May who liked her idea as she nodded in agreement.

Dawn pressed a button with a "4" written on it, as the elevator immediately started to move upwards all the way to the fourth floor in just a few seconds.

Dawn and May left the elevator and looked around the hallway with only a few trainers, and Chanseys around, but no Ash yet… lucky for them.

"C'mon let's look for Pikachu's room!" Dawn ran while grabbing May's arm, causing her to follow as they looked around to find the room with 409 written on it.

After a few moments, they found Pikachu's room as they stared at the window and saw Pikachu covered with bandages sleeping comfortably in his bed.

A few moments later, they heard loud footsteps coming from the stairs, and a sweaty and tired Ash finally arrived.

May, and Dawn stared at him as he is panting while looked around, he didn't notice them as he stared at the first sign he saw, 401.

He immediately darted to the hallway to his left, while failed to notice the two of them staring and giggling at him from the hallway to his right.

After a few minutes, they all saw Ash, tired, and full of sweat, as he slowly walked towards the two with a very surprised look on his face.

"H-how…did…you guys…get…here…so fast?" Ash asked inbetween gasps.

"Since you had to take a long cut by going to the left hallway, May and I quickly found Pikachu's room at the right hallway.

Ash, confused, looked around to see the stairs where he climbed before, and they were right, Room 409 is just to his right, but he failed to notice it earlier as well as May and Dawn neither sweaty nor tired at all.

"C'mon, let's go inside." May said, as she knocked on the door to Pikachu's room.

"Come in." A female voice replied.

May opened the door and saw an eager Pikachu who was very happy to see them while sitting comfortably on his bed, with a white pillow for his back to lean on and a white blanket covering his lower body.

And beside Pikachu was another Nurse Joy with the same features they all saw with the other Nurse Joy back at the ground floor.

"Hello, kids, by the expression on Pikachu's face, I can tell that this is your Pikachu?" Nurse Joy cheerfully asked them.

"Yes, Pikachu's my pokemon." Ash happily said as he went closer and pat Pikachu on the head.

"Well, all I can say is that Pikachu will be a lot better after a day's rest, so you can keep him company if you like." Nurse Joy said while looking at some papers she was holding.

Suddenly they all heard a popping sound out of nowhere as two beams of light suddenly appeared from May's fanny pack and Dawn's backpack. As the beams of light materialized, two pokemon appeared right before them.

"Glaceon!"

"Buneary!"

The two pokemon happily called out to Nurse Joy, telling something to her in pokemon language.

Nurse Joy, however, nodded in response as if she seems to understand what they were saying.

"It seems that both Buneary and Glaceon want to act as nurses for Pikachu." Nurse Joy said happily as the two nodded in unison and gave each other a glare afterwards.

"Wow, you can understand pokemon speech?" An amazed May asked.

"Well, I've been interacting with pokemon for so long, I can't explain it well, but I seem to understand what they're trying to tell me."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Ash said who was more amazed than anyone.

"Yes, I know, " Nurse Joy giggled as she stood up and went towards the door, "Now I'll leave you kids for the time being, and you two mini-nurses should get to work." She finished with a wink to the two pokemon, as they nodded in unison.

As Nurse Joy left the room, Buneary quickly jumped towards Pikachu's bed and began pushing the pillow with her ears and giving a cute smile and a few winks to Pikachu who only had a blank look on his face with a clueless expression.

Glaceon thought of a better strategy, as she also climbed to Pikachu's bed, quickly pulled off the blanket off Pikachu with her mouth.

Pikachu now looked at her with a more confused look on his face, while Buneary stared at her intently, waiting what sort of act will she do.

Then, Glaceon started to talk to Pikachu while pushing the mattress down, prompting him to follow her order.

Pikachu stood up from the pillow he was leaning on and went to the spot where Glaceon was poking with her paw, and lied down on his stomach with a still confused look on his face.

As Pikachu was lying down, Glaceon started her strategy to win this rivalry, she stood over Pikachu and put her paws to Pikachu's shoulders, and then slowly massaged it.

Pikachu felt strange at first, and eventually liked it as he closed his eyes in enjoyment by the treatment he was having, Buneary, however, didn't like every bit she saw.

Buneary quickly went towards the two and also gave Pikachu a massage while giving a menacing glare to her rival who also stared back.

Slowly, Buneary made her way towards Glaceon and intently pushed her hind paws with her foot which made her lose her balance as her weight exerted more force to Pikachu's shoulders, which made him groan in pain a little.

Glaceon quickly apologized to Pikachu as she continued to massage slowly, now she knows Buneary isn't playing fair at all.

As the two continued their massage to Pikachu, Glaceon quickly used her tail and hit Buneary on the back, causing her to fall over on top of Pikachu.

Well, this rivalry is sure heating up, as our clueless Pikachu is having his rest time to be handled by two rival nurses.

"Aww, aren't they so cute?" Dawn said as they continuously watched the two stepping over Pikachu literally while yelling to each other, not even hearing Pikachu's yelps of pain.

"Looks like it's a love triangle." May said, as she quickly sensed the ongoing rivalry between Glaceon and Buneary was over Pikachu's heart.

"Hmm?"

Dawn quickly noticed a shadow figure passing by the window while both Ash, and May failed to notice it.

She stood and went to the door while still staring at the direction where that figure went.

"Hey, Dawn, what's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Oh, nothing, I'll just check up on…um Brock, I'll see you guys later, okay?" Dawn quickly thought of an excuse as she went her way outside the door.

"Sure, come back soon, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will."

Dawn quickly looked at the direction to her right where the figure went, but as she looked around, she quickly noticed a familiar man staring at a window next to the room where Pikachu was staying.

'_Paul?'_


	7. EP07: Trouble

Sorry for the long update, school work plus my hectic schedule made me very busy this week, and I haven't had that much free time to write chapters.

**--**

**CHAPTER 7**

**TROUBLE**

--

Dawn was very shocked to see the lavender-haired man, Paul staring at a window next to the room where Pikachu was staying.

Paul looked around the window while wearing his same, old, blank and emotionless expression and then went his way towards the elevator.

Dawn slowly followed him without having him notice her, as she made her way towards the elevator; she stared at the same window where Paul was looking before he left.

Dawn was surprised to see a familiar pokemon resting on a bed much bigger than Pikachu's, while more bandages covered up its entire body while several wires were attached to it.

"Ursaring…" She mumbled to herself as she felt pity for Paul's pokemon, it had been through a lot worse than Pikachu did with the last encounter with Team Rocket.

Although it suffered serious injuries, and bandages and wires covered almost its entire body, somehow Ursaring managed to sleep peacefully.

Dawn went towards the elevator where Paul went and looked above where a "G" was highlighted.

'_He's going back to the first floor, wonder why?' _She thought to herself as she went to a vacant elevator beside it, pressed the "G" button, and waited for the elevator to go down in just seconds.

'_Although I hate to be called a stalker, I just have to find out what he truly is…'_

She quickly darted and looked around to see where Paul had went, but he suddenly vanished.

Dawn checked the elevator Paul used but no one was inside.

She went to the lobby and looked around if he was there, but no lavender-haired guy.

"Oh man, why does he always disappear like that?" She mumbled to herself, not noticing someone approaching her from behind and tapped her shoulder.

Dawn immediately shrieked as she turned around to see who that was.

"Uh, Dawn, its just me…" Her eyes met with a man taller than her, but his eyes were entirely different with the usual eyes she sees everyday, those eyes were shut tight as you don't know whether he's awake or not.

"Brock!" Don't scare me like that!" Dawn sighed in relief as she was glad it was only one of her friend.

"Sorry about that, so what are you looking around here for?"

"Oh, about that, have you seen Paul?"

"He just went outside a while ago-" He pointed at the entrance of the center, but as he turned around, his blue-haired friend suddenly disappeared.

"Ok, thanks." Brock turned again and saw Dawn ran towards the entrance while waving her hand upwards.

"Huh? Now why did she want to look for Paul anyway?" A confused Brock mumbled to himself as he stared at the entrance for a bit, until a gorgeous young girl met his eyes as he went head over heels all over again.

--

"Oh man, I lost him again…" Dawn had been looking for Paul for over an hour now. She circled around the town, the marketplace, the shopping mall, everywhere.

She sighed in despair as if she had lost a contest. She found herself at the town square; she looked around to see if there was anyone with lavender hair, but to no avail.

Sensing defeat, she made her way to the nearest bench to rest, for her legs cannot walk anymore.

After ten minutes, she was about to doze off until suddenly a ruckus brewed right at the center of the square.

"Hey, I said I'm sorry!" A young girl's voice shouted, as Dawn and a few crowds went to see what the commotion is about.

"This jacket costs me a lot of money, you brat!" A deeper, male voice replied, as Dawn looked closer to see a large man holding the arm of a young girl.

The large man was slightly tanned in skin color, bald, dark brown eyes, had thick lips and had a very angry face while wearing a white jacket now drenched with red liquid which seems to be juice while firmly gripping his hand onto a young girl with bright orange hair, emerald eyes, a pure white skin, and was wearing a plain white dress reaching below her knees and matching slippers. She looks like she's around eight to nine years old.

"Hey, let go of my arm, I already told you I'm sorry! And I have any money with me either!" She tried to pull her arm off but his strong grip was too much for a young girl like her.

"Oh boy, you've made the big man mad, you little girly!" A shorter man said. He had a yellow Mohawk, several piercings on his ear, and a big wide, and sinister smile. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a skull enscribbled to it, and black jeans with a few ripped portions, and black sneakers, giving his look like a punk.

Everyone whispered to themselves while Dawn was so frightened on what to do, that girl is in a lot of trouble.

"Hey, why isn't anyone helping her?" She asked a man beside her.

"That man calls himself Brody, the Maverick, he's infamous around these parts, and he's dangerous."

"If that's so, can't you guys call the authorities?"

"Even if we did call them, he always manages to evade them."

"Then, what can we do?"

"…Nothing." The man could only sigh.

Dawn looked desperately as the girl got dragged along by the man known as Brody as he tried to pull her out of this place.

"If you can't pay for my jacket, then your…body will have to do." Brody laughed as he eyed at the young girl's body with a malicious look on his face, as the girl could only imagine what kind of nightmare this has become for her.

Suddenly, a person walked towards the three as they were about to leave.

He had lavender hair, an emotionless face, and clothes that fit the man she was looking for the entire time.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" She mumbled to herself as he looked at him pulling out a pokeball out of his pocket.

"Honchkrow, use Sky Attack!" He threw the pokeball in front of him, as his dark and flying-type pokemon materialized and immediately used a Sky Attack.

Honchkrow's body became engulfed with white energy as it dived swiftly onto an unexpecting Brody, hitting him right in the face as his grip quickly loosened on the girl and got knockbacked to the ground.

"Wah, Boss!" The Mohawk-haired man screamed as he quickly shaked Brody's shoulders, trying to wake him up.

The girl quickly ran towards Paul's back while still staring at the hideous man who almost tried to kidnap her.

"You okay?" Paul stared at her; she nodded in response as she couldn't even say a word due to her fright.

"You'll pay for that!" Brody slowly got up to his feet as his hand rubbed the portion of his face where the Sky Attack had landed.

"So, a big man like you likes to pick on little, defenseless girls. How pathetic." Paul commented, causing a few veins on his face to become visible as he got angry from being mocked by a stranger, much shorter and younger than him.

"If it is a pokemon battle you want, then it is a pokemon battle you get!" He grabbed a pokeball from his pocket and threw it, the pokeball opened and a pokemon materialized.

"Staraptor!" The flying-type pokemon shouted as it stared at Paul's honchkrow. But unlike any other Staraptor he saw, this one was bigger than the others, and a few scars on its body, looking like it had been through tough battles in the past.

"Heeheehee, Behold, my strongest pokemon, and no one has ever beaten it even once!" He shouted, trying to intimidate Paul, but to no avail, as he was still in his emotionless state.

"Beat him for me, mister." The girl said to Paul while her hands gripped tightly to his jacket.

He stared at her for a bit, then nodded and looked back at maybe one of his toughest battles yet.

--

Meanwhile, back at the pokemon center. Ash and May enjoyed the company of each other as they exchanged stories about one another while sharing a few laughs and giggles.

Glaceon, and Buneary was taking their time, pushing their heads against each other, as their rivalry heated up.

But unknown to them was that they've been stepping all over Pikachu's body for a long time that he had enough of being stepped on for so long that he released a powerful Thunderbolt attack, shocking everyone in the room.

"AAHHH!!"

"PIKACHU STOP!"

Pikachu halted his Thunderbolt attack and left the whole room electrocuted. Leaving Ash and May's clothes scorched up.

Buneary and Glaceon both fainted from the Thunderbolt attack as they collapsed on top on Pikachu with swirly eyes.

"Whew, what made you do that, Pikachu?" Ash asked his best buddy.

"I think those two have been hurting you rather than taking care of you." May said.

Pikachu nodded as he leaped from the bed and onto May's embracing arms, as he made himself in a comfortable position resting in her arms.

"Aww, looks like Pikachu wants me to be his nurse." May hugged Pikachu and rubbed his head with her cheek, causing him to coo in affection.

"Well, I think those two would become great nurses." Ash said sarcastically as the two of them shared a short laughter.

Ash looked around the room and something caught his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't notice there was a TV here." He caught sight of a small TV hanging beside the bed to their left.

"And there's a remote beside it." May pointed to the remote just beside the hanging TV as ash went and grabbed it and went back to his seat.

"Well, at least the TV's still working." Ash turned on the TV on and happy to see it was still working despite it was also hit by the Thunderbolt attack by Pikachu.

Ash switched through the channels until something caught his eye.

"Calling all great trainers for this special event in our lovely town." A fat guy with a big moustache wearing a blue tuxedo said.

"We all welcome you to join our annual Trainer's Competition!" He continued while making weird poses.

"Great Prizes will be won for the victor!" He pulled out two things out of nowhere as the screen zoomed in to the one on his left.

"This lovely ticket for six for free admission for four days to the Sevii Island beaches!" He held a large ticket with a picture of a man and a woman in their swimsuits sunbathing with a logo of Sevii Islands written on top, along with the free admission of six people for four days.

Then the camera moved over to the one to his right.

"And this cash prize of 5000!" He held a blue rectangular ticket that looked like a paycheck but with the 5000 written in the cash as well as the name of the victor in there.

May screamed in delight as she saw the marvelous prizes that will be given to the victors. Her eyes sparkled as she was in deep thoughts of her imagination flooding her mind.

"Think of all the swimsuits I can buy with that cash prize and show them off at the Sevii Island beaches!"

"Swimsuits again, May? Don't you have too much of those already?"

May suddenly stopped from her thoughts and glared at him in a pissed-off kind of way, causing him to shiver and wave his hands sideways as he made a nervous laugh at her.

The glare was interrupted when the fat man on the screen continued to speak.

"Registration is still open but only for today as the event will start in just two days from now!"

"See you all folks and have a good day!"

The screen vanished as another commercial came as both Ash and May looked at each other with wide grins all over their faces, forgetting the statement Ash said earlier.

"We've just gotta join Ash, we've just got to!" May shouted, letting go of Pikachu as he jumped back to bed and tried to wake up the two fainted pokemon and grabbed Ash's arms and began jumping continuously.

"Yeah, I can't wait to battle against some trainers there."

"And I want to go to the beaches there, and with that 5000 to add it all up!"

May suddenly stopped as she stared at her hands holding Ash's while he also stared at their hands holding each other. May quickly released it afterwards and looked away while blushing deeply. Ash also blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"So…, uh why don't we register, it is only open… for today, right?" Ash slowly said, breaking the moment of silence between the two.

"Yeah, come on let's go." May's blush disappeared as she looked at Pikachu, helping both Glaceon and Buneary to stand up while still recovering from that shock.

"Looks like Pikachu make up a better nurse than you two." May joked causing the two to laugh nervously in embarrassment.

"C'mon, let's go guys!" Ash waved to them as he headed for the door first, prompting them to follow.

--

"Ok guys, this is it." Ash and the gang went in front of a large stadium with a giant poster above, "Trainer's Competition", with some added cosmetics of pokemon battling against each other.

"C'mon, let's all register." May suggested as Ash nodded in unison as they all went inside.

But as the gang made their way inside the lobby, they noticed someone at a nearby bench with his head down and crying softly.

"Hey, what's with that guy?" May asked Ash while pointing at the weeping man.

They stared at the man more intently as he was a fat guy with a big moustache and wore a blue tuxedo as their eyes widened to see the same man they saw on TV.

"Hey, isn't he the same guy he saw on TV?"

"Yeah, you're right. Come on, let's ask him."

They went towards the man and poked his shoulder, causing him to lift his head up to face them while revealing his face full of tears.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you alright?" May was surprised to see the happy and jolly man they all saw on TV before was now sad, and gloomy.

"This is a disaster!" The fat man shouted as he held his head with his hands, trying to wipe away the tears from his eyes.

"Why, what's wrong?" Ash asked the man.

"The prizes for the victor of our upcoming competition have been stolen!" He confessed as the gang was surprised.

"You mean the 5000 cash prize and the ticket for six to the Sevii Island beaches?" May could only stand still in surprise as the wild imaginations she had been thinking was crushed to dust instantly.

"Yes, that's right…"

"I don't know who they were, but when I checked to see the safe where the tickets were, those three just jumped over me."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know, they knocked me out cold, and when I woke up, the safe was opened, my keys are gone and so with the prizes." Then the man decided to cry again.

"Hey, can we help you look for it?" Ash kindly asked the man, as his face suddenly turned to be jolly again.

He quickly wiped away the tears and held the boy's hands.

"Will you really do that?"

"Of course! We always want to help people." May added.

"Why, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The man became overjoyed as he shaked Ash's hands upwards so fiercely that his whole body was also shaking.

"Oh sorry, the name's Cid by the way. I'm the host of these kinds of events happening in this lovely town of ours." He released the handshake and put his hands on his waists.

"Nice to meet you Cid, my name's May, and this is Ash and these are our pokemon." She also introduced herself and Ash and also their pokemons.

"Well, except for Buneary I guess…"

"So, Cid, do you have any clue where those thieves went?" Ash asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember something unusual before they knocked me out." He said while putting his hand on his chin while trying to remember what happened.

"Oh yeah, I remember now!" He slammed his fist on his palm.

"Before I passed out, I noticed that the window was still shut, and when I woke up, the windows are now open."

"So, that's where those thieves went after they knocked you out and stole the tickets." Ash added.

"Come on, let's check the window."

"Come, follow me."

Cid led the gang to the room where the prizes were being kept before the competition starts as the gang quickly ran and looked outside the window.

"Well, you could see the great view of the forest in here." Ash said as they all stared the nearby forest just in front of the window.

"Hey, maybe that's where those thieves went." May said as she suddenly thought of the possibility on where the thieves headed afterwards.

"Maybe you're right, come on let's go!" Ash said as he jumped out of the window and ran towards the forest as May, Pikachu, Glaceon and Buneary followed.

Cid also followed, but as he tried to jump over the window, he fell and landed on his belly.

"Ow, ow, ow…"

"Hey Cid, why don't you stay here and let us find it okay?" May loudly suggested as she ran towards Ash while waving her hand to the air to Cid.

"Really, well okay then…" Cid said disappointingly but he also understood that he may only be a burden to the two.

--

Ash, May, Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary walked together through the vines, shrubs, bushes while looking for the thieves that are maybe still inside this thick forest.

But after thirty minutes of endless searching, they eventually slowed down to a complete stop and took a short break.

"We've been looking for them for a long time now."

"Yeah, maybe they didn't go to the forest after all." May looked down in defeat as her prediction before was a complete failure.

"Oh, come on May, it's not your fault." Ash patted her back, hoping it would somehow comfort her.

"Thanks Ash." May looked up at him and gave him a smile, causing him to blush a bit.

Suddenly, Pikachu's ears twitched as he looked at his left.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash asked his yellow rodent pokemon as he suddenly ran towards the direction he was facing, prompting both Glaceon and Buneary to follow.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash quickly stood up and pulled May alongside with him and followed the three.

The gang made their way through some more bushes and hanging vines as they finally went to an open field, but as they went closer, they could see three figures.

"Hey, isn't that… Team Rocket?" May asked while looked at the three figures closer, as the big red R written on their chest was easily recognizable as their annoying enemies.

Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary quickly ran towards the unsuspecting trio, but as they darted closer to them, the ground underneath them suddenly collapsed, as the three fell and had a hard landing.

"Ah, Pikachu, Glaceon, Buneary!" May shouted as both May and he ran towards the pit trap they fell under.

"Wait, May, it may be a trap!!" Ash also ran behind May while trying to stop her from running further.

But as May made another step, the ground suddenly softened and collapsed as both of them fell down also.

"Yahoo! Who knew pit fall traps are always handy these days?"

"End thoise twoips wood olways foll on tha saym old trik agaen end agaen."

"Plus with this cash prize of 5000 and this ticket for six to the Sevii Island beaches will be an absolute paradise after this successful mission."


	8. EP08: Teamwork

My longest chapter yet… Read and Review :D

**--------------**

**CHAPTER 8**

**Teamwork**

**--------------**

May was still recovering from that awful landing she and Ash had, she rubbed her head and opened her eyes, but as she looked to see Ash, her eyes could only widen in surprise to see his face on her chest.

"AH! ASH! GET YOUR FACE OFF MY CHEST!" May screamed as she gave him a powerful slap on the cheek.

"OUCH! WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Ash protested as he rubbed his injured cheek while backing away from an outraged May.

"Don't you ever try to pull that off again, Ash Ketchum!" May threatened him as she pointed a finger at him while her other arm covering her chest as Ash could only watch her dumbstruck as he tried to figure out why'd she act like that so suddenly.

Then, suddenly he remembered everything that happened, that hard and painful landing followed by a soft and warm cushion on his face as he blushed in embarrassment but also exploding in the inside.

"Aww, look at those lovebirds fighting…" Jessie teased them as she made smooching sounds and shadow hugging as both of them blushed and looked away.

"Come on let's get out of here before they make a scene here." James added as he lifted up a pole with a hanging net containing Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary inside.

"Darn it, how do we get back up?" Ash stood up and tried to climb the pit fall trap, but eventually he slipped and landed on his butt.

"Come on Ash, I have a better idea." May tapped him lightly on the head as she pulled out a pokeball from her backpack and threw it as hard as she could upwards.

"Venusaur, use Vine Whip to get us out of here!"

The pokeball opened and a grass-type pokemon appeared as it stared at them below before using its Vine Whip attack and lifted them all up to higher ground.

"Whew, thanks Venusaur, you're the best!" May hugged its head and gave it praise for a job well done.

As they looked up above, they could already see a Meowth hot-air balloon rising which was always used during every getaway they got.

"Venusaur, try to use your Vine –" May was cut short when Ash placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back at the trainer who was just smiling at her.

"I don't think that's necessary May, I think Pikachu and the others can take care of themselves." Ash put his hands on his waists as he stared at the hot-air balloon.

Pikachu stared at the two annoying people and a talking Meowth that kept on messing their everyday lives. He looked at the net they were in very closely, but then figured out that Team Rocket must have installed some Shock Absorber in this net since they always done that before, and using Thunderbolt may also shock both Glaceon and Buneary.

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder, he looked to see Buneary came closer and whispered something in his ear. Glaceon, also came closer to them, and now their heads were practically sticking together.

They all nodded in unison, Buneary sat down and began to cry loudly which caught Team Rocket's attention immediately.

"Hey, stop that crying!" Jessie screamed as she put her hands to cover her ears from that loud sound.

"Yea, you better shut tat mouth of yors or else!" Meowth threatened them as long, sharp claws came out of his paws as he came closer to the three.

Buneary stopped, then stuck out her tongue and pulled her eye down, teasing Meowth, and continued to cry.

"Why, yoo, I'd otta!" Meowth didn't like it very much as rage quickly took over his body as he launched himself with claws out towards the three.

As Meowth used his Fury Swipes at the three, little did he know that he quickly shredded the net they were in and freeing them.

"WAH!" Meowth quickly realized his mistake as the three had very sinister smiles imprinted on their faces.

"Meowth! Why do you always have to ruin everything?!" James shrieked.

"Grr, then a Pokemon Battle will have to do!" Jessie quickly grabbed a pokeball and threw it, causing it to open and reveal a serpentine pokemon.

"SEVIPER!" The poison-type pokemon shouted.

"OW!OW!OW!" Jessie shouted by the body of Seviper completely filled the space inside, causing them to be squeezed by the sheer weight and over capacity.

"JESSIE! YOU KNOW THAT SEVIPER CAN'T FIT IN HERE!" James complained as part of Seviper's body was completely on his face as he struggled to push it off him.

Glaceon, seeing the opportunity, launched her Ice Shards attack from her mouth, as thousands of cold, sharp ice shards pierced the balloon inside-out, filling it with many holes.

Immediately, the balloon began to descend at great speed in a nearby field as Team Rocket screamed as they were about to land painfully again.

"See, I told you." Ash said as he and May quickly noticed the sudden descent of the hot-airballoon and made their way towards it.

The hot-air balloon landed on an open field rather strongly as dust clouds appeared and left everyone disoriented by the impact, well not all of them.

Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary quickly escaped from the clutches while stepping over the heads of the three at the same time.

"Why you! I'll get you for that!" Jessie quickly raised her now dirty, and muddy face from the ground as she clenched her fist tightly and slowly got up to her feet.

James and Meowth slowly got up to their feet, wiped off some dirt on their bodies before staring at the three pokemon who ruined their plan of escape.

"Carnivine! Let's teach these twerps some lesson!" James threw out a pokeball to the air, as it opened, a light figure of a flytrap pokemon appeared.

But as his Grass-type pokemon appeared, it quickly leaped towards James and hugged him tightly while playfully biting his head.

"Carnivine! Stop biting me and use Bullet Seed on those twerps!" James struggled to push Carnivine off him, then lifted it up and threw it towards the three as it quickly launched a barrage of Bullet Seeds from its huge mouth.

Glaceon leapt forward and released her Ice Shards attack from her mouth as thousands of sparkling ice shards intercepted the Bullet Seed attack.

The sheer size and power of the Ice Shards quickly destroyed the Bullet Seed and a few hit Carnivine directly.

Carnivine got knockbacked and landed on its back as it struggled to get back up.

"Darn it, Yanmega help us out!" Jessie threw another pokeball to the air. As it opened, it revealed a giant, dark green dragonfly pokemon.

"Sonic Boom!" Yanmega flapped its wings hard, creating waves of Sonic Boom attacks at the three.

Both Glaceon and Buneary used their Ice Beam attacks at the waves as they collide head-on, creating a huge explosion mid-air.

As the explosion subsided, a powerful Thunderbolt attack quickly hit the unsuspecting Yanmega as electricity surged throughout its body, and since it is a flying type, it cannot endure the amplified power of the lightning bolt attack.

It quickly fainted in mid-air and fell to the ground twitching as few statics can still be seen on its body.

"Yanmega, return." Jessie got shocked to see her Yanmega quickly got knocked down just by one attack.

"Darn it, Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Jessie ordered her serpentine pokemon, as it quickly charged towards the three as its sword-like tail glowed purple, ready to strike.

Pikachu looked at Buneary and nodded together as Pikachu sprinted towards Seviper as its tail glowed brightly, charging up his Iron Tail attack while Buneary followed behind.

As Seviper swung its Poison Tail attack, Pikachu intercepted it with its Iron Tail attack, as the two attacks clashed ferociously, Buneary leaped towards Seviper and unleashed a barrage of Dizzy Punches to its face.

"Wah! James! Don't just stand there, do something!" Jessie complained to her partner in crime who was only staring at the match blankly but quickly came to his senses when she twisted his ear, causing him to yell loudly in pain.

"Carnivine, use Bite on that Buneary!" James ordered his grass-type pokemon while holding his swollen ear, as the flytrap pokemon leaped towards Buneary with its mouth wide open.

But unknowingly for them, Glaceon used an Ice Beam to Carnivine, as the cold rays shot its body, Carnivine quickly became an ice sculpture and unable to move.

Pikachu quickly overpowered the Poison Tail attack since Seviper cannot concentrate by the barrage of Dizzy Punches it had received on its face and became confused. Pikachu leapt and used another Iron Tail on its face and sent it flying towards Carnivine.

The two collided strongly that the two was now sent flying towards the trio as both Glaceon and Buneary used their Ice Beam attacks to completely freeze them all.

Pikachu leapt to the air and channeled electricity from its body to unleash a powerful Thunder attack on the frozen Team Rocket, causing them to feel amplified power while still frozen inside and causing an explosion.

Team Rocket was sent flying towards the horizon again, but suddenly, the cash prize and the ticket they stole earlier slipped right out from Jessie's pocket.

"NO! THE PRIZES!" Jessie screamed as she tried to grab the prizes but to no avail, they were already too far to reach as they went flying across the horizon.

Glaceon and Buneary ran towards the falling prizes as Pikachu followed behind.

Glaceon quickly sprinted towards the cash prize of $5000, and caught it with her mouth.

But Buneary however, leapt so high up to grab the ticket to the Sevii Islands with her ears that she was now falling towards a stream below her.

She screamed in fright as she was about to get washed away, well, until Pikachu quickly leapt and caught Buneary with his body and landed to the shore safely and dry.

Buneary quickly became lovestruck when Pikachu's heroic act saved her from harm as she hugged him tightly and shaked him vigorously as a confused Pikachu only stood there and looked at her blankly as she gave him winks.

Glaceon quickly ran towards the two and saw her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her love rival making a move over Pikachu.

Glaceon separated the hug by purposely dashing towards the two which was successful. Glaceon dropped the cash prize on her feet and raised her paw to give a high-five to Pikachu, along with a cute smile on her face, while Pikachu quickly understood as he also raised his hand and gave a high-five as well.

Glaceon quickly stuck out her tongue at Buneary, teasing her as fumes came out of her ears.

"Hey Pikachu! Buneary! Glaceon!" A familiar voice shouted as two trainers ran towards the trio.

Pikachu quickly heard this and ran towards Ash, his trainer and best friend as Pikachu leapt towards his arms and gave each other a warm hug.

Glaceon grabbed the cash prize on her mouth and ran towards her trainer as well while Buneary followed behind with the ticket still on her soft, fluffy, but powerful ears.

"I knew I could count on you buddy." Ash praised Pikachu as he continued to rub his cheek to Pikachu's head.

"Glaceon, Buneary, are you both alright?" May knelt down and softly scratched their cheeks as they nodded together and also cooed by the soft touch May was giving to them.

"And the prizes are safe and sound." May grabbed the cash prize from Glaceon's mouth and the Sevii Island ticket from Buneary's ears.

"You guys make a pretty good team out there taking out Team Rocket by yourselves."

"Come on, let's go back."

The gang went back to the building where Cid was waiting with wide smiles on their faces for a job well done.

------------------

Meanwhile…

"Brave Bird!"

"Haze, go!"

Staraptor charged ferociously dived the ground with flames enveloped its whole body, but as it was about to touch the ground, it quickly managed to change direction and headed straight to Honchkrow with the flames that enveloped its body before turned into a majestic blue aura that looked like a huge bird.

Honchkrow quickly summoned a thick, dark smoke that covered the entire square, leaving some people coughing and tried to see through the thick smoke.

"Dodge it, now!" Paulcommanded his dark and flying type pokemon.

Since Haze blocks the vision of its opponent, Brave Bird has a lesser chance to hit while Honchkrow can clearly see through the Haze attack and can quickly anticipate any incoming attack with ease.

But however, the Brave Bird attack affected a huge range and Honchkrow barely dodged it due to the lightning-fast speed Staraptor made.

Staraptor flew up a few levels as the aura faded away and soon, shocks appeared and surged throughout its body.

Paul grinned, seeing an opportunity to strike.

"Sky Attack now!" Honchkrow's body became engulfed with white energy as it flew directly towards the disoriented Staraptor and hit it head-on.

His opponent gritted his teeth in anger as he knew he was going to lose this battle if he doesn't do something.

"Dammit! Keith! Do something will ya?" The huge man known as Brody screamed at his partner beside him who only stared at the match blankly the whole time until he made him come back to his senses.

"Okay, here goes nothing…" Keith said slowly as tension and fear ran throughout his whole body. He was never been a good trainer, and seeing that Honchkrow can even beat Brody's Staraptor made him shiver even more.

He threw a pokeball from his pocket, as the pokeball opened, revealing a big flying type pokemon, the same type with Brody's.

It had a blue body, small ears, eyes and feet, two large purple wings with its mouth wide open, revealing its sharp fangs to everyone.

"Golbat! Use Screech!" Keith ordered an attack while feeling more confident in himself as Golbat unleashed a powerful Screech attack that can pierce the eardrums of anyone who heard this defeaning sound.

Honchkrow quickly became disoriented from the Screech as it lost its balance and began to descend.

"Dammit!" Paul became angry by the sudden handicap his Honchkrow got into.

"Now, use Steel Wing!" Brody had a wide grin on his face as he ordered his pokemon to attack while pointing his finger at the disoriented Honchkrow.

Staraptor's wings glowed brightly as it began to dive towards Honchkrow, who couldn't do anything to defend itself at the moment.

As the trainers and the crowd watched the suspected defeat of Honchkrow, suddenly, a barrage of bright bubbles appeared out of nowhere and directly hit Staraptor, causing the glow on its wings to fade away, cancelling the attack.

"Who? What? How?" Brody, along with his partner, Keith was surprised by the attack that came out of nowhere, as they tried to find where that Bubblebeam attack came from.

Then, a woman with long blue hair approached Paul who was surprised just like everyone else, along with her small, blue penguin pokemon in front of her with a determined look on its face.

"Dawn?" Paul quickly recognized Dawn as he stared at the sparkling blue eyes of hers, causing him to warp into Dreamland again and a faint blush appeared on his face while the little girl who was behind him noticed this and stared at the girl that Paul seemed to know.

Paul quickly shook his head as his mind went back to reality.

"This doesn't concern you!" Paul complained since its in his nature to take care of everything by himself and didn't like anyone to come and assist him.

"Well, it does now." Dawn said as she stared intently at the two with a determined and angry expression on her face.

"Well, well…" They were interrupted as Brody spoke loudly and caught everyone's attention, "What do we have here, another pretty girl… After we're through with you punk, we'll have fun with that girl instead." He added as he licked his lips.

Dawn, however, was disgusted by that statement and also a bit frightened as she moved back a bit as her Piplup stood in front of her and ready to battle.

"You have a sick and twisted mind." Paul said flatly as his face remained in his usual emotionless state while Brody started to laugh aloud.

"And you need to butt out." Paul added as he stared at Dawn.

"No way, I'm helping you out whether you like it or not." Dawn replied while regaining her confidence back.

"Whatever." Paul, seeing that Dawn wouldn't leave, mumbled to himself as he looked back at the fight.

"Honchkrow use Sky Attack on Staraptor!" Paul quickly ordered an attack as Honchkrow's body glowed brightly and dived towards its target.

"Golbat, Poison Sting on Honchkrow!" Keith ordered an attack as Golbat spewed a barrage of violet colored poison needles from its mouth as it headed towards Honchkrow's direction.

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn ordered an attack as Piplup flapped its arms hard and opened its mouth wide open as barrages of Bubblebeam and collided with the Poison Sting attack, causing minor explosions.

"Staraptor, dodge it quick!" Brody commanded as Staraptor flew upwards to escape the incoming attack and barely dodged it. Unfortunately for them, Sky Attack managed to hit one of its wings as Staraptor quickly descended while trying to regain energy.

"Shadow Ball on Golbat!" Honchkrow opened its mouth as it quickly formed a ball of dark energy from its mouth and shot it towards Golbat.

"Golbat, use Wing Attack!" Keith hesitated a bit before giving an attack as Golbat's wings glowed and intercept the Shadow Ball attack.

However, as Shadow Ball made contact with Wing Attack, it exploded, dealing massive damage to Golbat as it received the attack at a very close range.

"You IDIOT! How many times do I have to tell you to use a ranged attack against another ranged attack?!" Brody became frustrated by his partner who backed away a bit from him as fear began surging through his body.

"Well, well, a dumb person trying to teach its own kind." Paul mocked the two as Brody looked back at the lavender-haired boy, his wide, and sadistic smile before turned into gritting teeth of rage.

"Damn you punk! You'll pay for this!" His face became red as sweat dripped throughout his body as stains appeared on his armpits, causing a few people from the crowd to gross out.

"Staraptor, Brave Bird!"

"Golbat, Aerial Ace!"

The two ordered their attacks to their pokemon in unison as they dived towards their opponents.

"Now, use Haze!" Honchkrow summoned another thick smoke which quickly covered the entire square again which blocked out the vision of both Golbat and Staraptor as their attacks lost their effectiveness as they tried to pass through the thick layer of smoke.

"Piplup, you use Whirlpool!" Piplup's body glowed blue as the ocean as it summoned a huge whirlpool and launched it towards the Haze attack.

As the Haze attack subsided, both Golbat and Staraptor were now trapped by the powerful current of Whirlpool as they were completely immobilized.

"Not bad." Paul said flatly at his partner who was surprised to see him actually thanking somebody before.

"T-thanks." Dawn slowly said as a sudden feeling surged from her body, causing her to blush faintly.

"Shadow Ball! Full Power!" Honchkrow channeled a bigger, and much darker Shadow Ball from its beak and launched it towards Staraptor and Golbat, causing a huge explosion as water splashed at everyone nearby, causing them to shout and flee in panic.

As the explosion subsided, everyone could see parts of the square drenched in water as well as some people as well. Brody and Keith were also wet and were shocked to see both of their pokemos lying on the ground, motionless, and with swirly eyes on their faces.

"Uh, Boss, I think this is the best time to get away…" Keith suggested to Brody as he quickly nodded as both of them grabbed their pokeballs and recalled back their fainted pokemons and started to run away.

As they were about to get away, they were hit with something so fast and strong that they landed on each other.

They slowly got up and stared at the figure above them and were shocked to see that Honchkrow was flying above them with a very pissed off expression on its face.

"I'm not through with you losers yet." Paul approached the two with his hands in his pocket.

"I'll get you for this!" Brody clenched his fists tightly while cursing Paul who only ignored every statement he made.

"Honchkrow, Brave Bird!" Paul ordered an attack that surprised everyone around him, it was the same attack that Brody had used with his Staraptor.

Honchkrow flew high and began to dive towards the two frozen in fear, as bright flames engulfed its body and it turned into a majestic aura just like Staraptor has, but this one was much bigger and looks stronger.

The crowd could only stare at the Brave Bird attack making contact with the two, creating a huge explosion and dust clouds on the spot.

Soon after, the two was sent flying across the horizon as everyone stood quiet as both Brody, and Keith quickly disappeared.

"Good Riddance." Paul mumbled to himself as he pulled out a pokeball and recalled back its Honchkrow and put it back to his pocket.

"You did great, Piplup!" Dawn knelt down as Piplup leapt towards her and gave each other a warm hug.

Paul approached the little girl with his hands back in his pockets as the crowd roared loudly, some whistling, congratulating the two for getting rid of the trash in this town while Paul, however, ignored all of it and continued to walk towards her.

"You okay?"

"Wow! You two are my heroes!" The little girl screamed in joy as she pulled both Paul and Dawn's arms and began shaking them vigorously.

"Its… nothing." Paul said while trying to get his hand off her.

"Come on Paul, if you didn't try to protect her, they would have gotten away with her." Dawn said while trying to cheer him up and somehow make him smile a bit.

"Yeah, you're my hero!" The little girl released the handshake and hugged Paul tightly.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me." Paul complained, but she completely ignored that statement and finally released him after a few more seconds.

"So, where are your parents?" Dawn asked, she knew she was too young to go by herself, especially with older people around.

"Oh yeah, you guys should meet my parents!" The little girl suddenly remembered and quickly pulled the two from the crowd as they made their way out of the square.

"I need to get going." Paul tried to get his arm off her, but her grip was too tight and refused to let go.

"Come on, you guys saved me, and I need to repay you guys somehow."

"Really, its not a big deal." Dawn also tried to get her arm off, but she refused and continued to pull them towards her home.

"Really, I insist!"

"Oh boy…" Paul mumbled to himself as the three made their way past the crowd and to her home.


	9. EP09: A Very Long Day

**CHAPTER 9**

**A Very Long Day**

**--------------**

Paul and Dawn followed the little girl they saved earlier at the town square, even though they didn't like the idea of coming with her to meet her parents, her tight grips and persistence made them follow.

The little girl led them towards a big house, Paul and Dawn stared at the huge building she led them to. It was made out of wood and stones, but instead of the fresh brown color that wood usually had or even paint that gives houses their beautiful images.

They were shocked to see that the big house was just an old mansion, the wood were really old and worn out and gave out a gray color and appeared dusty in all sides, and the rocks had a few molds growing on them as cobwebs can be seen in some of the corners of the old house, giving it the impression of a haunted house.

"Not much of a pretty sight, is it?" The little girl became embarrassed as the two couldn't even say a word on what they saw.

Paul stared at the little girl and soon he gazed at the dress she was wearing, it had a few rips at the ends and a white patch that seemed to cover something and glanced at her slippers afterwards. He could identify her that she came from a poor family.

"Oh yeah, " The little girl broke the silence, looked at the two and gave her usual cheerful smile, "I haven't introduced myself yet have I? My name's Alicia."

"Nice to meet you Alicia, my name's Dawn." The blue-haired girl shook her hand that was currently in her tight grip lightly.

"Wow, Dawn, that's a nice name." Alicia's eyes suddenly became sparkly as her face got closer to hers, admiring her beautiful face and eyes as Dawn could only fake a laugh.

"How about you, what's your name mister?" Alicia stopped and then came closer and looked at Paul blankly as he did the same to her.

"Paul." Paul finally said his name after a few seconds of staring as Alicia's eyes became sparkling again.

"Wow, Paul, sounds like the name of a prince in shining armor." Suddenly, she imagined the lavender-haired boy as a prince wearing those majestic medieval armors and riding a white steed. Until a voice snapped her back to reality.

"Hey Alicia dear, who are your new friends?" A female voice said and caught everybody's attention as all looked at a woman standing in front of the door.

"Mom!" Alicia quickly ran towards her mother. They looked at her and quickly identified her long hair that reached up to her waist to have the same color as Alicia had and also the same emerald eyes as they approached and introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Dawn." Dawn raised her hand towards her, prompting her to shake hands with Dawn.

"How about you, young man? What's your name?" The mother released the handshake afterwards and glared at Paul with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Paul." He looked the other way around since he didn't like people smiling at him.

"Mommy! These two saved me from a bad man earlier." Alicia loudly said as she began to tell her everything that happened today.

"Oh my, " Her mother could only say a few words as she listened intently to every detail she had said.

"I must thank you all for saving my daughter. My name is Sally by the way." She said as she bowed down to the two.

"Really, it's nothing at all." Dawn said while she raised and waved her hands sideways.

"Come in, the two of you must be hungry."

"Uhh… that won't be necessary Ma'am…" Dawn said but Sally suddenly grabbed her hand and Paul's and headed inside the house.

"Really, I insist!"

Then, suddenly they heard growls coming from both of their stomachs as they blushed in embarrassment.

"See, at least your stomachs are telling the truth."

The two sighed in unison, she was going to make them come inside whether they like it or not and the growls gave them away. Her strong grip prevented them from escaping and her strong muscles pulled their whole weights together.

"Now we know where that kid got that persistence from." Paul whispered to her as they got dragged inside the house.

Dawn, upon hearing that statement, chuckled a bit and gave a big smile to him, causing Paul to blush as he got a closer look on Dawn's cheerful face for the first time.

"What's wrong?" Dawn's smile immediately disappeared as she noticed Paul looking at her as Paul immediately shook his head and looked away.

"N-nothing."

Dawn said nothing afterwards as the two were led to the inside of the house. It was quite big in the inside, although it shared much resemblance in the outside, there will still some cobwebs present in those unreachable areas in the ceiling usually, old furnitures that looked like it were on the brink of breaking.

"It's not much, " Sally broke the silence brought by her two guests as they were looking around the insides of this old house of theirs. Dawn looked around with her mouth opened a bit, while Paul stared at the furnitures a bit while retaining his emotionless state.

"…It's not much." She sighed as she led them to the kitchen and proceeded to open a dirty-white refrigerator. Both Dawn and Paul noticed this and stared at each other with a confused look on their faces and looked back at Sally who seemed to be depressed.

"What's with her?" Dawn whispered to Paul as they seated themselves at their chairs that seem to be very old along with the table.

Paul only shrugged his shoulders and continued to look away from her as he stared at Sally's cooking.

"So how long have you both been together? "Alicia broke the silence as she put her hands on the table and leaned forward while looking at the two with a big smile on her face.

"Uh… what?" Dawn was shocked to hear that question from Alicia as both Paul and she blushed deeply as they stared at each other for only a second and quickly looked away.

"You know, boyfriend and girlfriend… Couple?" Alicia continued while making hand-motions, making them even blush redder than before.

"We're not a couple!" Paul and Dawn shouted in unison with their faces still blushing red, they looked at each other again and quickly turned to the other side while Alicia was still in her cheerful expression.

"But your faces tell everything!" She laughed hard while pointing at the faces of Dawn and Paul.

"Now, now, Alicia. You shouldn't ask too many questions to our guests…" Sally called her daughter as she went towards the dining table while holding two plates in her hands.

Sally placed their plates in front of the two as it gave off a pleasant aroma that could make any hungry person drool instantly.

"Here you go," Sally said with a cheerful smile, "Oh I forgot, " She went back and opened a drawer and took two pairs of spoon and fork and gave it to them.

"Now dig in, you kids." She bowed down and went back to the kitchen counters and began cleaning it.

Dawn looked at her plate filled with rice and curry, as the pleasant aroma stimulated her appetite and her hands quickly grabbed hold of her spoon and fork as she began to eat her plate.

"Wow, this curry is good!" Dawn said while enjoying every bite she had.

"Why, thank you. I'm glad you liked it." Sally also blushed in embarrassment by the praise that was given to her cooking.

Paul, however, said nothing and ate like a gentleman. He grabbed his spoon and fork elegantly, as he scooped small portions of his food with his fork slowly, and chewed it slowly and wiped his mouth after every few bites.

'_Wow, I've never thought he eats like that…'_ Dawn thought to herself as she stared at Paul while he isn't looking at her as she continued to consume the curry rice.

A few minutes passed as the two finally finished their plate of curry rice and were pretty much satisfied.

"Wow, thanks for the delicious meal." Dawn said as she wiped her mouth clean with her handkerchief as Paul pushed away his plate.

Dawn noticed his plate was much cleaner than hers, there's not even a single grain of rice left on his plate.

"Rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngggggggggg!"

Suddenly they heard a mechanical sound, probably from a telephone.

"Uhh, I'll get it, Alicia, you go wash the plates, okay?" Sally quickly dashed outside the kitchen, leaving the three stare at each other with a confused expression on their faces.

"What's up with her?" Dawn asked as she looked at Alicia.

"Dunno, she always gets worked up everytime our phone rings." She sighed as she collected their plates and proceeded to the kitchen sink to wash them.

"Do you have a bathroom here?" Paul suddenly spoke, which surprised the two of them as he said nothing before their meals were served.

"Uhh, its just outside in the kitchen, and it's the third door to your left."

"Thanks." Paul stood and quickly left the kitchen, leaving Dawn and Alicia still kinda surprised.

"So Dawn, are you a pokemon trainer?" Alicia asked her, finally a question where Dawn can answer comfortably.

"Yeah."

"Wow! That's so cool! I wanna become a trainer just like you!"

"Just wait a little longer until you're ten okay, then you can become a pokemon trainer just like me."

"So, can I see that pokemon you had back in the square?"

"Oh, you mean Piplup? Sure, why not?"

Dawn showed Alicia her blue penguin pokemon as she let it out of its pokeball. As Alicia's eyes were amazed, a new inspiration and friendship dwelled in her heart between her, Dawn, and pokemon.

----------

"I know it's been a month since past the due date you've given us." A female voice said.

"Please, just give us a bit more time."

"Four days? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much."

A clicking sound was heard and soon everything became silent, and then crying sounds appeared.

"How can I get that much money on just four days?" That same voice again, but now she appeared to be crying and sad.

"Joe has been working as hard as he could just to save every penny we can, and there's no way we cannot pay the rent anymore…"

"There's a small piece of land in sale on the other side, but our savings aren't even close enough to buy it with only four days remaining..."

The female voice continued to weep. As Paul, although he didn't like to eavesdrop, peeked inside to see Sally, Alicia's mother kneeling down and covered her face with her hands and continued to cry.

Sally stopped crying afterwards, as soon as she stood up, Paul immediately went his way towards the kitchen.

As Paul got closer and closer, he could hear the conversation between Dawn and Alicia. But most of them were giggles and girly talks, something that isn't even worth his time hearing it.

He stood by the entrance as Alicia quickly noticed him followed by Dawn.

"I need to get going now, and thanks for the meal." Paul said flatly as he headed straight towards the door.

"Uh, I need to get going too, thank you for your generous hospitality, Alicia." Dawn quickly recalled Piplup and dashed outside the kitchen and followed Paul.

"No problem, come back soon okay?" Alicia followed through the entrance of their house and waved her hands to the air.

"I'll just have to wait for another year and then I can finally become a pokemon trainer!" Alicia mumbled to herself as she clenched her fists up high.

------------------

"It has been a long day is it?"

"Yeah. First at the harbor, our battle together, Paul came and we battled, then Team Rocket came and tried to steal our pokemon again…"

"And then the contest we saw on TV, the cool prizes, and Team Rocket showed up again and ended up blasting off again by them…"

Ash and May shared a laugh as they looked at Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary who felt proud by their achievement.

"It sure is getting pretty dark…"

May stared at the sun setting down as the light was getting dimmer by the minute.

The gang walked back to the contest building where Cid must have been waiting for a very long time just for them.

They soon find themselves back outside the building entrance again, but now with the prizes at their hands safe and sound.

"Hey Cid! We got the prizes back!" Ash shouted.

After a few seconds, they could hear loud footsteps coming from the inside as a big round figure soon came into view.

"YOU GOT THE PRIZES BACK?" A fat guy with a big moustache and wearing a blue tuxedo came rushing in to the two.

"OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Cid hugged Ash and May tightly.

"Can't…breathe….Mom…."

"Oh sorry about that, " Cid released the hug then quickly swiped the prizes from them and began inspecting them thoroughly.

"And there's not even a single rip or fold, " Cid continued to inspect the prizes until he noticed something on the cash prize.

"Why is this part wet?" He touched the part of the cash prize that seems to be wet as Glaceon quickly looked the other way while blushing in embarrassment.

"Well, never mind about this, it will dry up eventually. Now how can I repay you kids?"

Ash and May thought for a moment, until a realization struck Ash's mind.

"I completely forgot to register for the competition!!!" He screamed as May also remembered what they were doing here in the first place.

"Oh so you kids want to register for our lovely town's trainer's competition right?"

The two only nodded in unison as Cid smiled at them.

"Don't worry about that, " Cid patted their shoulders and then showed to them a stack of papers out of nowhere.

"What's this?" May took the stack from his hands as she and Ash looked at them.

"Those are the forms that are needed to register for the competition, " Cid pinpointed the "Registration Form" with his finger as both of them nodded together.

"You can bring those to me tomorrow morning with complete information, okay? And you can invite your friends to join too if you want, that's why I gave you a bundle."

"Wow, really, thanks Cid."

"Aww, its nothing really, but be sure to give me those forms by tomorrow morning, since I am a very busy man you see and preparing the competition takes some work."

"Will do Cid, see you tomorrow then." Ash said as they bid goodbye to Cid.

The gang went their way back to the Pokemon Center to retire for the night, by tomorrow, they planned to get some training.

Both Ash and May watched Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary who were ahead of them. They could giggle and laugh a bit at Pikachu's situation.

Glaceon got closer and closer to Pikachu and leaned her head against his.

Buneary immediately noticed this and quickly went beside Pikachu and hugged his arm while leaning her head against his.

Glaceon and Buneary only stared at each other as they proceeded to get closer in full body contact while Pikachu was literally squeezed sandwich-style.

After a few minutes of walking, the gang could already see the Pokemon center, as they got closer to the entrance, Ash and May saw two figures coming their way, Ash quickly recognized them as the one had lavender hair while the other one had long blue hair.

"Hey Paul, Dawn!" Ash called out to them as they ran towards the two as May and the others followed behind.

"Hey Ash, May!" Dawn quickly dashed towards the two, leaving Paul, who was not even happy to see them, behind.

Buneary quickly leaped towards Dawn as she embraced her lovingly.

"How are you doing Buneary?" Dawn softly asked as she continued hugging her as Buneary returned the affection with her own.

"Hey May, what's that you're holding?" Dawn noticed May holding a stack of papers with her.

"Oh, these are registration forms for the upcoming competition in this town." May replied as she gave her one as she began to read every detail and information.

"Wow, a cash prize of $5000 and a ticket for six for free admission to the Sevii Islands?!" Dawn quickly became overjoyed as her eyes caught sight of the prizes for the victor of this competition.

Ash went towards Paul as May and Dawn continued their conversation about the competition.

"So, are you going to enter the competition as well, Paul?" Ash asked him as he gave a paper, Paul took it, and read it.

After a short while, he said nothing to him and proceeded inside the Pokemon Center while still holding the registration form, leaving Ash confused.

Ash shook his head and sighed and went back to the two.

"So why are you holding a stack of these anyway?" Dawn asked.

"It's a long story really… Come on, let's go inside first, it's getting really chilly in here." May suggested.

"Yeah, you could also tell us what you and Paul were doing as well." Ash added as he led them to the entrance.

"You guys won't believe me when I'll told you what Paul did."

"Try us."

The girls giggled as they headed inside the center. As Ash opened the door, they were surprised to see Paul and someone sitting on the floor.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Paul shouted as he got up to his feet and wiped his butt.

"Sorry about that…" The person replied slowly as he slowly got up to his feet.

Dawn's eyes widened as she quickly recognized the person as she quickly ran towards him.

The person also noticed Dawn and immediately recognized her as well and called her as he also ran towards her.

"Hey Dawn!"

----------------

A new character has now appeared in this story that Dawn knew very well.

Guess who it is… :D


End file.
